State track: Pride sets boys state record in 4x100

Mountain Pointe's Paul Lucas, left, and Kejavon Moore celebrate setting a new state record in the 4x100 relay in Division I State Track Meet at Mesa Community College.

By Darryl Webb, AFN

MESA - It is one thing to know you have won a relay race with a good time, but it is a totally different feeling when something special just happened.

The moments afterward are a bit surreal, wondering if, just maybe, a record is about to erased. All eyes are fixed on the official scoreboard and as each second passes the heart races a little bit faster.

Then there it is in red digital numbers – boom – state record.

The knowledgeable crowd has a guttural reaction, knowing automatically that there is a new Arizona standard.

It’s a pretty cool scenario and four Mountain Pointe speedsters lived through it all Saturday at Mesa Community College’s Riggs Stadium as the Pride set the state record in the 4x100 relay, taking the Division I title with a time of 40.46 seconds to best the mark of 40.90 set by Laveen Chavez in 2008.

“We knew we could do it,” junior Kejavon Moore said. “We got a good time (41.02) last time and it wasn’t a clean race. As long as we all did what we were supposed to do we knew we could get it.”

There are many factors that have to come together for something like this to happen because there are so many factors – the baton, the wind, lane assignments, traffic, injuries – but it was a perfect Pride run.

That’s what happens when you combine flawless handoffs, unmatched combo speed and a senior anchor who wanted to leave an imprint.

“It’s my last year and now I can go with a state record,” senior Ben Trotter said. “We did this to share with Mountain Pointe and hopefully it stands for a long time so we can always look back on it.”

The Pride didn’t have to look back against its competition (Chandler was second at 41.58) as the lineup – Moore, junior Travonn White, freshman Paul Lucas and Trotter – seemingly never lost stride and when Trotter came motoring down the lane with no one even close it was matter of waiting on the official time.

When it flashed Lucas and Moore did a chest bump in the air at midfield and eventually caught with White. The threesome made their way to the finish to converge with Trotter.

They kind of stood in a group in disbelief until some of the Chandler relay runners came over to congratulate them and after that craziness ensued.

“We had been getting better and stronger,” Lucas said. “I have three more years to try and beat it.”

With only Trotter leaving the program, it just come fruition next year.

“Oh yeah, we can do it,” White said. “(Trotter) is big-time, but we can make a run at it.”

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